Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Case Visits Beach At Which Deceased Was Found
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a sandy resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several alternates visited the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Details
The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been parked.
The trip was intended to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
State Case
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defense Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.
The court heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her body were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.
